Chris Casher cleared academically by NCAA to play as freshman at Florida State

Chris Casher has been been academically cleared by the NCAA to play this fall at Florida State. (Press-Register/Bill Starling)

Chris Casher, who gave up his senior year of football and basketball after transferring to Davidson High with the goal of improving his grades, has been cleared academically eligible by the NCAA to play as a freshman at Florida State.

Mary Clair Wright, Davidson's academic coach, said Friday morning that Casher's academic status on the NCAA Eligibility Center web site is now listed as "Final Qualifier."

Casher (6-4, 250) was the fourth-rated defensive end in the nation in the 2012 class, according to Rivals.com. and signed with Florida State in February. He starred in football and basketball as a junior at Faith Academy, but transferred to Davidson last summer because he believed the move would help him meet NCAA academic eligibility requirements.

The Alabama High School Athletic Association ruled him ineligible to participate in athletics at Davidson under its transfer rules.

While Casher didn't want to disclose his grade point average entering Davidson in an interview earlier this month, Wright said it was "the lowest core GPA I've ever had going into a senior year" for any student-athlete who eventually earned eligibility.

Casher said he pulled his GPA up to a 2.1 and also passed the ACT and state graduation exams this year to attain eligibility, as reported earlier this month. Friday morning's designation on the NCAA web site was his final confirmation.

"At this point last year, I really didn't think I was going to be in this situation," Casher said earlier this month, when he completed his final requirements and his transcript was being sent to Florida State "It feels amazing."